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54 sixteenth century a single European nation had held the monopoly of commerce in the East Indies. When Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope and landed at Calicut in 1498, the trade with India and the Far East passed into a Portuguese channel. The old routes had been in the hands of Mohammedan traders, who shipped their goods by the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and so overland to Syrian and Egyptian ports, whence the merchandise found its way to Europe in Venetian bottoms. These routes were tapped at their source when Portugal acquired the command of the Indian Ocean. In the hands of such heroes as Pacheco, Almeida, and Albuquerque, the control of Portugal over the whole of the commerce with the East Indies, Spice Islands, and China was assured. Arab traders and Egyptian navies sought in vain to oust the invaders of their ancient privileges. From the Cape of Good Hope to China the extended coast-line was armed with a chain of Portuguese fortresses, and no ship could sail without a Portuguese passport.

A BUDGEROW, CALCUTTA.